I helped my friend build a run for his chickens. Probably 10ft x 30ft and 6ft high with welded wire fencing all around and a net over the top. The coop is on the end of it, so the ladies can come and go from the coop and have some room to walk around, eat bugs, etc. There's a gate to get in. Just need to make sure the bottom of the wire is surrounded by sand and rocks to keep digging animals out like raccoons. This has worked out very well.

I brought the tractor over to help build this. used the grapple, pallet forks, front bucket tooth bar, and post hole digger to clear the land of brush, grade the area, and dig the post holes. So I strongly suggest milking as many new tractor attachments out of this as possible.

 

If you have chickens long enough you will find out how just how many different types of preditors you have in your neighborhood. Hawks, fox , owls, weasels, racoons, mice you name it. It's also a test of your ability to build something to keep all the bad guys out of coop. Dogs and most preditors are capable of ripping chicken wire with their mouths if they are motivated enough. 1/4 hardware cloth will keep out any common pest.

Give the chickens as much space as you possibly can to keep them happy them more outdoor space the better. Your average store bought premade coop kit from tractor supply is typically good for half the number of birds it claims to fit. If the birds don't have enough free space they will attack each other.

Lots of people like the chicken tractor idea (it's what the cool kids call a coop and run on wheels). They are a great way to spread the chicken poop fertilizer around the yard and keeps any one spot from being destroyed by the chickens. They will eat all the grass and dig up all the bugs in any one spot given enough time there.

I spent a couple seasons taking a cruise boat up and down the columbia river. Really pretty area out there.


Be careful of chicken math, much like tools and tractor attachments you start out with 6 chickens then next thing you know you have 20. I'm at 12 hens and a rooster. We decided to entertain the kids and incubate eggs to hatch on easter. Now I have 19 brand news chicks that hatched over the weekend. So how I know we will end up keeping a couple of them.

My outdoor run and the small 8x6 shed is the coop.

 

Building an elevated coup I think makes it easier to keep things out. Mine is elevated, framed well (tight), have no problems with things getting in. My brother in law built a "rat-proof" coup by pouring a 12" thick slab and framing in top of it. Had rats 3 weeks later living under the slab and getting into the coup. For the money, I think it's cheaper and easier to build it with a little ground clearance.


Be aware your dog may eat all the poop. My dogs will follow the chickens around like they're pez dispensers if I let them, it's disgusting.

 

We have a white dog that finds every pile and rolls in it. Good fun I guess

 

Well, first you should tell us what tractor attachments or other tools you want and then we'll provide the justification necessary to get her approval. That's what we do here.

😁 🚜

 

I have had chickens for a long time. Best thing I have ever used is electrical fence netting. I have the coup inside fence with also a outdoor fully covered metal enclosure next to coup. Chickens roam freely between enclosure and a large yard area. Alot of animals try to get by the electrical netting but seem to quit after the second try. I have not lost a chicken in years. I love the electrical fence and it is easily moved around and setup.

 

I have had chickens for a long time. Best thing I have ever used is electrical fence netting.

Electric netting is what I use. Bought the whole setup from Premier. Expensive start up but well worth keeping the wife happy with no dead chickens (except from the owls) .
My favorite breed by far is the Red Sexlinks, these ladies can lay some eggs!
My coop is an 8x10 shed that has cross wind windows for ventilation, Don't try to keep them warm...keep the coop ventilated! Good luck, the eggs are delicious, not cheap.

 

Here is our current flock free ranging in the neighboring hay lot. I purchased this Amish made coop. It’s 8 foot long and 6 feet wide. It is supposed to have room for 8 to 12 chickens. We had 10 for a while. These six seem comfortable. If I had to do it again I would probably build my own and it would be a little larger. From March to around October we will get about 4 eggs a day and the kids show them at the county 4h fair

 

Forgot to mention we have a smooth coat border collie that stalks them all over the yard. It doesn’t really seem to bother them.

 

Forgot to mention we have a smooth coat border collie that stalks them all over the yard. It doesn’t really seem to bother them.

Seems they are quite safe.

 

As for coop building if you go that route remember to add plenty of ventilation. Even in the cold months the coop needs to have free air flow. Most chickens will be fine in sub zero temps if they are out of the wind in a dry place.

Chicken breath and poop makes a lot of moisture in the air so the coop needs to have a natural ventilation to get rid of that moisture. My 6x8 shed has a gable vent on the opposite side of the picture as well as the windows and the 2x2 pop door to the outside run.

I found a lot of useful information on another forum site. Lots of great ideas on coop design, waste free feeders, and poop management.

Raising Chickens 101 - Chicks, Breeds, Coops, Tips

Does your pet make you breakfast? Tips & Tricks for raising chickens, building chicken coops, & choosing chicken breeds + ask questions in our community forum

www.backyardchickens.com

 

'Our' chicken coop belongs other people, the Mrs buys fresh eggs from friends with chickens.

 

Our neighbors raise chickens for the free range eggs, they are better for you, at least that is what they said when they were done with there cigarette and were lighting another one.

 

We have two raised coups, fenced in around the bottom, chickens like a cool shaded place to lay on a hot summer day. As for the pen, we just happened across two 10'x10'x6' dog pens from people that we know. we set them up and put chicken wire around the bottom half so the chickens have a 10'x30' pen to peck in. From our experience I wouldn't worry as much about nesting box space as I would roosting space. All 22 of our hens lay in two boxes while the other 6 boxes are empty almost daily. They will just sit and wait patiently (and sometimes impatiently) for one of those two boxes to be available.
Like you mentioned, we cannot free range ours. We have two dogs, one of which is a Jack Russell that looks at them like a treat, and a few neighborhood dogs.
The best way to get egg production besides paying attention to your breeds is in the feed. A good quality laying mash, all they want of that, and your scratch feeds/sunflower seeds/almost any other treat are all given in moderation. The laying mash has the proteins necessary for good egg production. Right now we average 16-19 eggs per day with just the 22 hens, we have 8 chicks currently about 2 weeks old that will eventually be put out there, but not for another 8-10 weeks.

 

This thread brings back memories and I'm not sure if all of them are good. We bought 300 chicks every spring and raised them with most going in freezer at 3 1/2 to 4 pounds. The rest went on to be laying hens and a couple of roosters. I've killed and pluck the feathers off of a of a lot of chickens.
But the worst was carrying two five gallons of water from the pump house to the chicken house. I blame that for having long arms.

 

Ya the border collie is probably very happy to have a job protecting the chickens.

 

My chickens started in a coop with a run. Taking water out there was a pain. They now have a 30x30 pen in the barn. I noticed that once they were free to roam outside they were way mellower and learned to come when called.

I normally only keep about 4 otherwise I'm over run with eggs. Of course Sami rides in the Gator.

 

Do you get snow where you live? Because we can bamboozle a snowplow or snowblower out of this too. The chickens need somewhere to roam even when there is snow on the ground afterall.

 

Chickens hate walking in snow you definitely need snow removal equipment. My wife was very excited to see the nice 4 door wide path the snowblower made out to the coop. She thought I was nuts at first when I said I was going to snowblow the lawn, she quickly saw my genius though. There's always a first time for everything....

 

Thanks for all the replies.

Hardly ever get snow here, and we don't have to drive off property when we did get snow this year. It only lasted a few days.

We are looking for 3 chickens, we (I) don't want more than that.

We have skunks in the area and also coyotes. I'm not anxious for anything that raises the possibility of our dog to get sprayed again.



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Thanks for all the replies.

Hardly ever get snow here, and we don't have to drive off property when we did get snow this year. It only lasted a few days.

We are looking for 3 chickens, we (I) don't want more than that.

We have skunks in the area and also coyotes. I'm not anxious for anything that raises the possibility of our dog to get sprayed again.



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I would recommend not less than 6 birds. Actually all the stores around me will not sell you less than 4 or 6 birds at a time.

Chickens are social animals and need a flock to feel comfortable and safe. A group of only 3 birds will likely cause them undue stress.

It's very easy for chickens to die from many things other than just predation. If you only have 3 birds and one dies the others will not take it well. They will know their flock mate is gone.

 

Ive got chickens that I inherited when I bought my house. They are kind of fun and addicting as I went from 6 hens and a rooster to 8 more hens that are currently chicks growing up.

My place has an old chicken coop already on the property and they free range. I bought an automatic door for the coop that opens at sunrise and closes at sunset. the chickens are free to roam during the day and go back in at night. its kind of nice. I added two gravity feeders made out of pvc so i can put their feed in there and get several days to a week without having to fuss with it.

I also added a 5 gallon bucket with chicken nipples in the side of it. (yes thats what they are called, they are just spring loaded little drippers that the chickens can go nurse off of to get water.) During the day they take trips to the pond to drink from and roam between the pond and the pasture field where theres currently a huge pile of maple tree brush.

I get around 4 to 6 eggs a day. I didn't know what to do with chickens when we inherited them. We planned on starting from scratch once we learned about them and was thrust into this world. So far its worked out.

 

I built an elevated coop. Do not regret it one bit. Make sure it has plenty ventilation! The best thing I did was put a poop board under the roost. Saves on cleaning the coop big time. I leave the coop open to the run 24/7 except on extremely cold nights. They free range probably half the time.

Fresh eggs are nice and the kids love the chickens.

 

I built an elevated coop.

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That's a Freak'n Chick'n Condo.

 

Listen to Pat.

He knows his about chickens and the regular "cleaning routine" he and his wife do in the coop.

I hear the chickens wear blinders while this is going on.

 

is all i got to say about that!
////////////////////////////////////////////////////

to the OP---eggs are cheap here--wife usually gets them for around a dollar a dozen at the store. for that price i have no desire to raise chickens. we had them at home when i was a kid--also got to help butcher them too each yr. so yelp i have no desire to raise em now-ha!

 

Hi

Don't know if you have a Menards in your area. Menards is like Home Depot or Lowes: lawn, garden, home center. etc

this week's flyer has a coop kit. Might be faster to set up.

even better, Menards has 11% rebate this week - that's the $225 savings it mentions. Rebate might end on Saturday

 

So school me on chickens for a first timer. My wife wants them to have fresh eggs, and just to have.

I'm thinking of a coop that can be moved about, either on wheels or with forks (yet to be bought, but I'm getting tools out of this somehow).

We live near the lower Columbia river in Oregon so it is a mild climate.

Our golden retriever will test any coop we have, so not a free range type of situation. Only 2 acres minus the house & shop.

Thoughts?

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I have both a chicken coop with attached run and chicken tractor. My 16 laying hens and 2 roosters inhabit the coop/run. Coop is 4’ x 12’, elevated and has plenty of ventilation. 3 nesting boxes but they only use two. Area under the coop is accessible 24/7 and has food and water. There’s an automatic door to the run which is 8’ x 48’. The door is on a timer, though I plan to change timers to dusk-dawn daylight sensor. The entire perimeter has 1/2” hardware cloth extending 2’ out on the ground to prevent digging predators and the area under the coop has 1/2 hardware cloth as well. The run is a combination of hardware cloth, cyclone fencing and wood pickets (wanted an area to provide wind, snow and rain protection). I also put up a corrugated roof over half the run. The remaining “roof” is poultry netting to prevent aerial attacks. The gutter is connected to a 55 gallon drum with spigot installed to help provide rainwater to the chickens. Inside the coop I use 6” of industrial hemp as a deep litter method. Two four foot wide doors provide easy access - I’ve removed about a tractor bucket in the past year and added some fresh hemp once. It’s pricey but goes a long way. The chickens generally mix up the poop and hemp which eliminates any smell. The chicken tractor currently house 14 meat birds. I made it out of 1-1/2” pvc with hardware cloth and covered half the roof with corrugated metal. It’s 5’ x 10’. I move it every other day to provide forage for the chickens and fertilizer for the grass. I have a solar powered electric fence around the tractor. I keep them about 8 weeks prior to harvest. In the past five years, I’ve lost four birds to predation because I failed to close the door - it all happened one night. I have a second batch of 25 meat birds coming at the end of May and 10 Bielefelder chicks as well. I’m building another coop for the bielefelders. It’s a labor of love! Hope this helps!

 

You guys don't teach your dogs right, growing up, we milked around 20 Holsteins. One evening Mom & I were headed to the barn to milk, Mom was behind me, when I heard "well Rowlf", looked back and our English Setter spit out a small chick. The chick ran off, barely damp, Rowlf had carried it about 70 yards from the brooder house to the barn. The chick shouldn't have been out where Rowlf could even get to it!

 

My German shepherd did the same thing before (high school years), came to living room with a baby chick in his mouth. I said "give it to me" but you know he wont. I grabbed his leash and hung it up with all my might, like a prisoner on the justice tree lol, he still didnt open his mouth and I kept hanging him, then finally he coughed it out. The chick was dead. I took her to my bed, wiped the saliva on and covered a little bit, waited to see if she is breathing. Then left the room. After 10-15 minutes she recovered.

 

I have 9.5 acres of woods and we have considered chickens for the last 5 years. We ended up buying a "share" in a local sheep, duck, chicken, and vegetable farm. We pay a fee each year and help out with animal care, fencing, gardening, etc. and get endless eggs, maple syrup, lamb, and vegetables. It's a really nice arrangement as we can dabble at the farm with the kids each week without all of the stress of taking care of a farm 24/7.

 

That is a brilliant idea. I have considered doing a community farm type thing at my place. I just worry that it will be more my hassle and trouble than if i just did the stuff myself. But I am sure I could get a handful of people who would want to come grow and take care of some vegetable garden type stuff and tend after the chickens to get their own fresh eggs and not have to have the mess. I have two small towns near me where people cant have animals and gardens that easily so I would assume a couple people would be willing to do something like that if i advertised.

 

So school me on chickens for a first timer. My wife wants them to have fresh eggs, and just to have.

I'm thinking of a coop that can be moved about, either on wheels or with forks (yet to be bought, but I'm getting tools out of this somehow).

We live near the lower Columbia river in Oregon so it is a mild climate.

Our golden retriever will test any coop we have, so not a free range type of situation. Only 2 acres minus the house & shop.

Thoughts?

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Lots to think about
1. Ck with local zoning, in my town you need at least 4 acres to farm animals, and then so many acres per animal (or group as in chickens)
2. The cost of feed is expensive, my friend figured he lost money selling a dozen eggs for $4.50.
3. What will you do with the droppings? Ya can't use it in the garden until it "ages" for a year or more.
4. Will you put up with the noise & smell & up keep?
5. What will you do with the extra eggs. My friend had to buy a 2nd fridge)
6. Plan on building a strong fence to keep out foxes, wolfs etc.
I'd suggest you find someone who is already doing it and pick their brain!
Good luck

 

Lots to think about
1. Ck with local zoning, in my town you need at least 4 acres to farm animals, and then so many acres per animal (or group as in chickens)
2. The cost of feed is expensive, my friend figured he lost money selling a dozen eggs for $4.50.
3. What will you do with the droppings? Ya can't use it in the garden until it "ages" for a year or more.
4. Will you put up with the noise & smell & up keep?
5. What will you do with the extra eggs. My friend had to buy a 2nd fridge)
6. Plan on building a strong fence to keep out foxes, wolfs etc.
I'd suggest you find someone who is already doing it and pick their brain!
Good luck

lol not to be that guy, but the "i'd suggest you find someone who is already doing it and pick their brain!" is what the OP is doing. He was asking those with chickens for advice and help.

I dont think anyone goes into the chicken business to make money. Selling eggs helps offset the cost of feed but like anything, when you factor in the cost of a coop and the time it takes to take care of them and all the tools and equipment, you aren't making money off chickens. You do it because you have an almost endless supply of the freshest of eggs, you get plenty of benefits from having chickens like them eating bugs. If you have kids, it teaches them responsibilities and how to take care of animals.